Shelter boss in soup over animal cruelty

Employees hit out at ‘psychological abuse’

BURI RAM: An unidentified foreigner running an animal shelter in Ban Kruat district could find himself in hot water if proved guilty of practising veterinary medicine without a proper licence, animal cruelty and abusing his staff.

A probe has been launched after he was caught in a video clip posted on social media putting a dog to sleep with an injection.

Meanwhile, 15 employees at The

Sound of Animals shelter have posted accounts on social media about them being treated with disrespect at work and suffering psychological abuse at the hands of their employer.

They’ve also filed a police complaint against him, alleging that he locks some of them in dog cages as a punishment for not working hard or in some cases for getting too friendly with animals they were looking after.

A Buri Ram Livestock Development Office official said his office had lodged a complaint with police at Ban Kruat police station on Oct 25 seeking legal action against the animal shelter operator for violating laws on veterinary medicine, animal cruelty and animal welfare protection.

If the operator is proved guilty of these charges, he may lose his licence and be prosecuted, said the official who asked not to be named.

Konaen Phumphan, a secretary at the animal shelter, said the 15 employees went public and to the police about their employer’s behaviour after failing stop him treating them badly.

If the employer had only agreed to talk with the employees about these problems, they would not have reported him, he said.

Natdanai Nammala, an official at Buri Ram’s Labour Protection and Welfare office, said they were also investigating the employees’ claims. He said his office was waiting for results of the livestock office’s probe.